5 Strategies for Unhealthy Cravings
By Lydia Wallie, Nutrition Director
At the end of a long day, when our decision-making is at its worst...that is when the cravings can hit hardest. So what do you do when you're craving donuts, chocolate, junk food, or something else that's not part of a long-term healthy lifestyle?
Here are a few strategies:
Step 1: Research and learn about the impact of healthy and less healthy foods on the body.
Understanding the impact of foods in relation to the structure and function of the body helps us to improve our belief patterns in relation to food decision-making so that better choices can be made. Our beliefs will lead to our actions. So if we believe that drinking diet coke and eating pastries will have no impact on our energy, well-being, and long-term health, we’ll continue consuming those foods. However, knowing and understanding what foods are healthy and the positive impact they have on the body will help us to not only feel better physically, but we will improve our other areas of life. Good choices in one area of life tend to improve all other areas of life. (1)
Step 2: Tune into your body and find out why you’re craving particular foods.
What are you craving? Are you craving potato chips? Maybe you're under stress and the body is losing minerals so your body needs minerals replenished. A good form of salt will contain some of those minerals. Find a better source of satisfying salty snacks to reach your goals faster! The Barnana plantain chips or Siete cassava tortilla chips are great alternatives to normal chips!
Are you craving chocolate? This could be due to stress or hormonal changes. Stress depletes the body of minerals (2) and chocolate can be a helpful source of magnesium.
Step 3: Find healthy alternatives to satisfy the cravings.
For the chocolate craving mentioned above, there are so many healthy alternatives to the go-to snack options like Snickers, Dove, and M&M’s. One example is to try creating a chocolate recipe with cacao powder, almond butter, and honey.
Yes, it might be an adjustment to start eating healthier versions of chocolate and other foods. But with education, accountability, and discipline, you can make incredible changes and grow to enjoy healthy food more than you ever enjoyed the former unhealthy choices. For more accountability support and strategy, we have Nutrition Sessions available for all our Athletes. Contact us at info@crossfit925.com to find out how you can increase the rate of accomplishing your goals by 95%!
Step 4: Stress less.
It’s easy to be hard on ourselves for not living out our full expectations of what we want to be each day. But letting anxiety, overwhelm, or hopelessness take over will do nothing positive for reaching our goals. Instead of beating yourself up, ask these questions:
What’s one thing I did well in my healthy lifestyle today?
What’s one small step I can take to be better tomorrow?
Who do I have to keep me accountable? We truly are #StrongerTogether.
Step 5: Remember…
Life is a journey and not a destination. Many choices have led you to where you are right now, and you have the power to start making new choices! Take charge of your wellness. Determine your priorities and start living in accordance with where you envision yourself 1, 5, 10, and 25+ years from now.
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